ARC Raiders: How to Farm the MK3 Survivor Augment Blueprint (New Closed Security Method)
Getting the MK3 Survivor augment blueprint used to take 20–30 runs. With this new method, players are pulling two or three in just five runs. Here's exactly how it works.
What Is the MK3 Survivor Augment and Why Does It Matter?
Augment blueprints are among the most valuable and sought-after items in ARC Raiders. The MK3 Survivor is widely considered one of the best augments in the game — a looting-focused augment that gives you a meaningful edge across every run you take. If you're serious about progression, this blueprint needs to be in your collection.
The problem? Finding it has historically been a nightmare.
The traditional farming method — running the Blue Gate breach room during standard expeditions — works in theory but falls apart in practice. The breach room is well-known, which means you're almost never alone. Expect three or more players competing for the same containers every single run, and expect your overall drop rate to suffer because of contested access, early looting by other players, and the chaos of having to watch your back constantly.
One player documented doing 20 to 30 expedition runs to get a single MK3 Survivor blueprint from the breach room. That's a brutal grind for one item.
The new method changes everything — and it's tied directly to a recently added game mode.
The New Method: Locked Gate Mode on Blue Gate
— Locked Gate Mode on Blue Gate —
The game mode is called Locked Gate. When this mode rotates onto the Blue Gate map, it creates a set of conditions that makes the underground breach room dramatically easier to farm solo.
Here's the core reason it works so well: Locked Gate mode sends players toward specific objectives, and on Blue Gate, the current hotspot is the new shotgun blueprint. Nearly every player who drops into this mode on Blue Gate is moving toward that shotgun blueprint, which means the underground breach room — the location that matters for MK3 Survivor farming — is almost completely deserted.
In documented back-to-back runs during this mode, the breach room door was closed and untouched. No competing players. No contested containers. Just you and whatever ARC happen to be wandering nearby.
The result: 3 augment blueprints across 5 runs, including 2 MK3 Survivor blueprints. Compare that to 20–30 expedition runs for a single drop. The efficiency difference is staggering.
Where Is the Blue Gate Breach Room?
If you're new to Blue Gate farming, here's the key location you need to know:
The Blue Gate breach room is located underground at Blue Gate, accessible through a door that requires breaching. This room contains a cluster of containers that have a confirmed chance of spawning augment blueprints, including the MK3 Survivor.
During normal expedition mode, this room is one of the most contested locations on the entire map — a known farming spot that draws players in from the moment a session starts. During Locked Gate mode with the shotgun blueprint drawing attention elsewhere, you'll often arrive to find the breach door still closed and the room completely untouched.
How to Tell If the Room Is Available
When you arrive at the breach room entrance, check whether the door is still closed. A closed door means nobody has been there yet this session — that's your green light to breach and loot cleanly.
An open door means someone beat you to it. The containers may already be looted or partially cleared. In this case, it's usually more time-efficient to extract and run again than to pick through leftovers.
Step-by-Step: How to Run This Farm
Here's the full loop for efficient MK3 Survivor farming using the Locked Gate method:
Step 1 — Wait for Locked Gate Mode on Blue Gate This is the foundation of the method. Check when Locked Gate is active on the Blue Gate map. The entire strategy depends on player traffic being redirected toward the shotgun blueprint objective, so if it's not Locked Gate, you'll face normal breach room competition.
Step 2 — Drop In with a Minimal Loadout You don't need heavy gear for this farm. A stem (healing item) is enough for most runs. The main threat is ARC in or around the breach room, not other players — and ARC in the underground area tends to be lighter than the surface.
Bring a weapon just in case an ARC wanders into the breach room while you're looting. Getting caught empty-handed while containers are open is an easy way to lose your run.
Step 3 — Move Directly to the Underground Breach Room Don't get distracted by surface loot or the Locked Gate objectives pulling other players. Your one goal is the breach room underground. Move there quickly — other players may eventually realize the breach room is untouched, especially as the mode becomes more widely known.
Step 4 — Check the Door Closed door = breach and loot. Open door = assess whether it's worth checking or just extracting for another run. In most Locked Gate sessions, you'll find the door untouched.
Step 5 — Breach and Loot Every Container Once inside, open every single container in the room. Augment blueprints don't always appear in large numbers — some runs produce only three containers, others give six or more. The number of containers that spawn per run appears to vary, so don't assume a sparse-looking room means no blueprint is present. Check everything.
Step 6 — Safe Pocket Any Blueprint Immediately The moment you pick up an augment blueprint, move it to your safe pocket. This applies especially to the MK3 Survivor — do not risk losing it to an arc or a late-arriving player. Safe pocket it, finish looting the room, then extract.
Step 7 — Extract and Repeat You don't need to stay in the session after hitting the breach room. Extract immediately after looting, queue back into Locked Gate on Blue Gate, and run it again. The loop is fast — each run takes only a few minutes if you move efficiently.
What Drop Rate Should You Expect?
Based on the documented five-run session, here's what the Locked Gate breach room method produced:
| Run | Result |
|---|---|
| Run 1 | No augment blueprint (3 containers spawned — low count) |
| Run 2 | MK3 Survivor augment blueprint (found with help from a cooperative player) |
| Run 3 | No augment blueprint |
| Run 4 | MK3 Survivor augment blueprint |
| Run 5 | Flanking augment blueprint |
Final tally: 3 augment blueprints across 5 runs — including 2 MK3 Survivors.
That's a roughly 60% chance of an augment blueprint per run in this sample, with the MK3 Survivor appearing twice. For context, the previous expedition method produced one MK3 Survivor across 20–30 runs. Even accounting for variance and luck, the Locked Gate method is operating in a different efficiency tier entirely.
The key driver isn't a change in the drop rate itself — the breach room's loot table is the same. What changes is exclusivity of access. No competing players means every container in the room is available to you, every run.
What Other Augment Blueprints Can Drop Here?
The breach room doesn't exclusively drop MK3 Survivor blueprints. It has a general augment blueprint loot table, which means you may get:
- MK3 Survivor — The primary target; looting-focused augment
- Flanking — Confirmed drop from the same room in this session
- Other augment blueprints (varied)
Any augment blueprint dropping in this room is a positive sign — it confirms the room's loot table is active and that the MK3 Survivor is part of the pool for that session. If you're getting augment blueprints but not the MK3 specifically, keep running. The drop pool is active and the specific blueprint you want is in rotation.
Why This Works: The Locked Gate Mode Advantage Explained
Understanding why this method works helps you adapt it as the meta shifts.
Locked Gate mode on Blue Gate creates a player traffic funnel. Because the mode is newer and the shotgun blueprint is the shiny new objective, the vast majority of players are drawn toward that content. The breach room, by contrast, is legacy content that experienced players know about — but in Locked Gate sessions, even experienced players are chasing the shotgun.
The result is a temporary window where one of the game's best augment farming locations operates essentially as a private room.
Over time, as this method spreads and more players learn about it, the breach room will see more traffic even in Locked Gate sessions. The window of low competition may narrow as awareness grows. Run this method as frequently as possible while player traffic is still overwhelmingly directed elsewhere.
Tips to Maximize Your Farming Efficiency
Go in light. A stem and a basic weapon are enough. Heavy loadouts slow you down and cost resources you don't need to spend on this run type.
Move fast on entry. The longer you take to reach the breach room, the more likely another player has the same idea and gets there first. Know your route before you load in.
Don't compete — cooperate. If you arrive at the breach room and another player is already there, consider the interaction carefully. In the documented run, a player who was already at the room offered the MK3 Survivor freely because they already had it, and the gesture was reciprocated with stems. Augment hunting in the breach room can be surprisingly cooperative if you communicate before shooting.
Track your container count. Runs with only three containers tend to produce fewer blueprints. Runs with five or six containers are your best shots. There's no way to influence this, but it helps to set expectations run-to-run.
Extract immediately after looting. Don't linger. The value of this method is in the volume of runs — extract fast, queue again, repeat. Half an hour of consistent runs at this location should yield the MK3 Survivor with high probability.
Time your sessions. Locked Gate needs to be active on Blue Gate for this to work. If the mode isn't on Blue Gate, the player traffic dynamic changes and the breach room becomes contested again. Verify the mode and map before committing your session to this farm.
Quick Reference: MK3 Survivor Farm Cheat Sheet
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Mode Required | Locked Gate on Blue Gate |
| Target Location | Underground breach room, Blue Gate |
| Why It Works | Player traffic redirected to shotgun blueprint objective |
| Door Check | Closed door = untouched room; open door = possibly looted |
| Loadout Needed | Minimal — stem + basic weapon |
| Expected Results | ~3 augment BPs per 5 runs (sample data) |
| Primary Target | MK3 Survivor augment blueprint |
| Other Possible Drops | Flanking and other augment blueprints |
| Key Rule | Safe pocket any blueprint immediately on pickup |
| Session Length | Fast — extract right after breach room, repeat |
Final Thoughts
The MK3 Survivor augment blueprint grind went from one of the most frustrating farming experiences in ARC Raiders to one of the most efficient — all because of how Locked Gate mode reshapes player behavior on Blue Gate.
If you've been putting off this grind because expedition runs felt endless and hopeless, now is the time to run it. Set aside 30 minutes, queue into Locked Gate on Blue Gate, and hit the breach room on repeat. The results speak for themselves: three blueprints in five runs, with two of them being exactly the MK3 Survivor you're after.
Get in, loot fast, extract, repeat.
Guide based on documented community gameplay. Drop rates are based on a five-run sample and may vary. Share your own results in the comments — especially once this method becomes more widely used and competition in the breach room increases.